


Just a Little Crush

by Vipersweb (Rhianona)



Category: Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-17
Updated: 2009-07-17
Packaged: 2017-10-10 12:50:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/99971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhianona/pseuds/Vipersweb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke knows it's futile, but he still has a crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Little Crush

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: [Insert witty comment here] SJA and TW do not belong to me.
> 
> Written for szm who requested Luke and Ianto.

The first time he meets Ianto Jones, the world is ending. Actually, the first few times he sees Mr. Jones, the world is about to end. Luke wonders if there's a club he can join. Not that his mum would like that. She wants him safe, even if she can't keep him from helping when he can.

It surprises him that his mum will even work with Torchwood. She doesn't like guns and Torchwood does. Despite all that, she likes Captain Harkness, in spite of his cheekiness and so she occasionally helps or calls for help from his branch. She claims it's because Captain Harkness used to travel with the Doctor, just as she had once done and Companions have to stick together. Luke thinks it's because the Captain makes her feel young and always compliments her. Sarah Jane also likes Mr. Jones; Mr. Jones, it seems, is the only one who can control Captain Harkness. He also prefers to use a stun gun, which endears him to her.

Mr. Jones - who insists Luke address him as Ianto - doesn't mind when Luke rings to ask for help or even just to chat. He likes that Ianto takes him seriously, something most adults have trouble doing, even if they know he has a genius IQ.

The first time he really meets Ianto properly - face-to-face and not through a video or phone - he almost stutters. Video and phone don't capture the true beauty of Ianto; he's not the only one to see it though - the Captain does too. Captain Harkness and Ianto stop by Bannerman Road on their way back to Cardiff after a meeting with UNIT. Ianto makes coffee that 'is the best this side of Orion's Belt' according to his mum, and Captain Harkness charms Sarah Jane into letting him take a look at Mr. Smith. This leaves Luke to entertain Ianto.

It's odd; he's spoken with Ianto a lot in these last few months and it has never seemed strange or awkward. He doesn't know what the difference is now and he blushes as he realizes that silence has descended. He struggles to find a topic but doesn't think that something Clyde or Rani finds interesting would appeal to the man before him.

"How's school?" Ianto asks, taking pity on him.

"Fine. Well, bit boring really, but mum says I need to go," Luke says.

"Anything interesting happen since we last spoke?" Luke really likes the way Ianto rolls his vowels.

Luke launches into a recap of the latest bit of trouble he had gotten into with Clyde and Rani. Ianto laughs and smiles at all the right places and then follows by relating some of the more innocuous Torchwood activities.

"Do you think... maybe when I'm older? I could join Torchwood?" Luke finally asks, staring into his mug. He doesn't want Ianto to see his eyes, afraid what the man would see in them.

Ianto sighs, smiling ruefully. "Torchwood would snap you up in a second," he finally says. "But I don't think it's right for you."

"What do you mean? I help mum - we stop aliens all the time!" Luke responds, a bit indignant that Ianto seems to disregard all that he does.

"I know. But Torchwood isn't like this. Not that you and Miss Smith aren't quite capable and do a great many things. No... that's not it Luke. You're too good for Torchwood. Torchwood? It breaks people. It tears them up and rips them apart. No one who works for Torchwood is ever whole."

Luke frowns, "But what about you?" Ianto looks fine, happy even and he's never given a sign of the bitterness that his words indicate.

"Oh, Luke... you mum doesn't like Torchwood just because we use guns. Torchwood's been responsible for some truly awful things. Things are better now, with Jack in charge, but it's still not a safe place. Besides, most Torchwood agents don't live for very long."

 

He doesn't really know how to reply to that; he doesn't know many people who are so fatalistic and it scares him a bit that he never saw this part of Ianto before this. Still, he thinks on what Ianto said and asks his mum about Torchwood and learns more than he ever wants to know. He hears about Canary Wharf and their search for the Doctor and their belief that they knew best.

"Why did you want to know?" Sarah Jane asks, after she tells him a bit about Torchwood.

"I asked Ianto about joining - don't worry, he said not to," he hastens to reassure his mum. "But I... you like Captain Harkness and Ianto and I know they help save the Earth."

"Yes, they do," Sarah Jane agrees.

"Ianto says they die young."

Sarah Jane nods. "It's true. Most agents don't last more than five years." She doesn't mention that Ianto's five years are fast approaching.

"But he has. Probably because of Captain Harkness?" Luke asks slyly and then laughs as Sarah Jane reddens and sends him to Rani's.

He rings up Ianto the next night, just to chat. Ianto seems happy to hear him on the line and Luke tells him about his week and how he thinks Rani and Clyde like each other but are too scared to act. Ianto laughs and it makes Luke's heart beat faster. He doesn't want to look too closely at the reasoning for that.

The next day, he makes a comment about Ianto to Clyde and Rani and they tease him about his crush. He insists he doesn't have one - but when he speaks to Maria via Skype, she says the same. He's confused and doesn't know who to talk to. He decides to ignore it instead.

The next time he sees Ianto, they're in Cardiff visiting the Hub. The world decides to end - again. Luke's heart is in his throat as Captain Harkness starts issuing orders and he finds himself coordinating the team's movements. His mum won't allow anything else. Ianto doesn't have a lot of time except to flash him a small smile, before he's running after Captain Harkness, just like he always is.

Luke just hopes it's not going to be the last time he sees Ianto. He knows Ianto will never see him because Captain Harkness is his everything. It doesn't matter. He likes what he has with Ianto.


End file.
